The
i
element represents a
span of text offset from its surrounding content without
conveying any extra emphasis or importance, and for which the
conventional typographic presentation is italic text; for
example, a taxonomic designation, a technical term, an
idiomatic phrase from another language, a thought, or a ship
name.

Although previous versions of HTML defined the
i
element only in presentational terms, the element has now been
given the specific semantic purpose of representing text
“offset from its surrounding content without conveying any
extra emphasis or importance, and for which the conventional
typographic presentation is italic text”.